KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Knox County has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a 100% disabled U.S. Air Force veteran who suffered a fractured skull and permanent brain damage after a sheriff's deputy shot him in the back of the head with a Taser.
The payout ends a three-year legal battle over the actions of Deputy Randall Williams.
On October 10, 2022, Williams stalked along Edington Road in South Knox County hunting for an escaped hospital patient who had slipped police custody. Dispatchers had broadcast a specific physical profile: a 34-year-old man, six feet tall, with brown hair. Instead, the deputy confronted Brian Eugene Hux, who was 64 years old, stood five feet nine inches tall, and wore his hair long and dyed purple.
He did not match the broadcast.
Williams moved in anyway. Body camera footage cited in court filings documented Hux walking away before the encounter flared. When Williams charged at him, Hux began to run. Williams raised his Taser and fired directly into the back of the veteran's skull.
Hux collapsed face-first onto the asphalt, knocking him unconscious and fracturing his cranium.
Medical records introduced during the litigation confirmed severe, lasting trauma. Emergency clinicians documented a fractured skull alongside acute bleeding inside the brain tissue. Hux survived, but the damage proved irreversible. Today, the 64-year-old former airman requires 24-hour supervision and round-the-clock medical care inside an assisted living facility.
One year after the incident, Hux filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Williams and Knox County, demanding $3 million in damages for unconstitutional excessive force and wrongful detention.
| Case Parameter | Verified Detail |
|---|---|
| Plaintiff | Brian Eugene Hux (64, 100% Disabled U.S. Air Force Veteran) |
| Defendant Officer | Knox County Sheriff's Deputy Randall Williams |
| Incident Date & Location | October 10, 2022; Edington Road, South Knox County |
| Physical Injuries | Fractured skull, traumatic brain bleed, permanent impairment |
| Care Requirement | 24-hour round-the-clock assisted living facility |
| Initial Claim vs. Payout | $3,000,000 demanded; $1,000,000 settled |
Williams and county attorneys fought the action aggressively. County legal counsel initially refused to offer Hux any financial compensation, contending that an outstanding warrant against Hux retroactively justified the deputy's intervention and shielded Williams under the doctrine of qualified immunity.
That defense cracked in July when the federal appeals court delivered a stinging ruling against the deputy. The appellate panel affirmed a lower court decision denying Williams qualified immunity, effectively stripping the officer of procedural shields and clearing the case for a public jury trial.
Appellate judges centered their ruling on three distinct legal failures:
First, Williams lacked any reasonable suspicion to execute the initial investigative stop, given the stark, irreconcilable physical differences between Hux and the 34-year-old fugitive.
Second, the evidentiary record demonstrated that Williams's aggressive charge directly caused Hux to flee.
Third, an outstanding warrant did not erase Hux's constitutional protection against unjustified physical force.
The county initially refused to offer my client any payment whatsoever. The federal appeals court ruling established the clear merits of Brian's claims, and his sheer determination carried this fight through to the end.
Lance Baker, Attorney for Brian Eugene Hux
Baker confirmed that Knox County finalized the $1 million settlement on November 9, formally closing the litigation before trial proceedings commenced in federal court. While the sum falls short of the $3 million sought in the original complaint, Baker stated the funds will directly secure Hux's lifelong assisted medical care.